Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized Selfridges & Co.’s smartphone selection as limited. That is not the case. Carphone Warehouse maintains a store-within-a-store at Selfridges & Co., offering a full selection of smartphones — though the department store’s website does not reflect that inventory.

This according to Thorsten Heins, the struggling smartphone maker’s CEO, and early sales of the device seem to so far support that assertion. Speaking at the Milken Institute conference on Monday, Heins said the company has high hopes for the Q10. “We have very, very good first signs already after the launch in the U.K.,” Heins said. “This is going into the installed base of more than 70 million BlackBerry users, so we have quite some expectations. We expect several tens of million of units.”

Is that a reasonable expectation, or an unreasonable one?

Though it only began shipping in the U.K. a few days ago, the Q10 already seems to be in very high demand. Selfridges & Co., a British department store that had an early exclusive on the Q10, blew through its initial stock within two hours last Friday. And on Monday the store issued a press release declaring the handset its fastest-selling consumer electronics product ever. Said Selfridges exec Julian Slim, “The BlackBerry Q10 has been, without a doubt, the most highly anticipated smartphone we have ever sold and is already our most successful.”

Now, granted, we’re talking about one department store chain with four locations in a single country. Still, Selfridges & Co.’s experience suggests that are plenty of BlackBerry loyalists out there who have been waiting patiently for the company’s next Qwerty phone. And the Q10 has been garnering some great reviews that may push consumers looking for a serious smartphone with a physical keyboard to consider it.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized Selfridges & Co.’s smartphone selection as limited. That is not the case. Carphone Warehouse maintains a store-within-a-store at Selfridges & Co., offering a full selection of smartphones — though the department store’s website does not reflect that inventory.

AllThingsD by Writer

AllThingsD.com is a Web site devoted to news, analysis and opinion on technology, the Internet and media. But it is different from other sites in this space. It is a fusion of different media styles, different topics, different formats and different sources. Read more »